Change in the Wind
by TopHat10792
Summary: When the crescent moon burns red and a leader loses a life, fire will need an eagle to take flight...That is the prophecy Windbreath heard in her dreams the night she delivered a litter of kits to a proud Flowerfoot, does it spell doom for Fireclan?
1. Alliances

**A/N:** All of these Characters belong to me!!! If I used one of your names sorry! If you want to use one of my characters please ask!

**Fireclan**

Leader- Applestar-Short haired she-cat with russet colored fur and light gold eyes, small with long claws

Deputy- Lightstep-Long haired cream-colored tom with bright green eyes, huge with a bushy tail.

Medicine Cat- Windbreath-Old short haired black she-cat with white paws and a white belly, scar across muzzle. Red eyes.

App. Medicine Cat- Longpaw

Warriors

Grayfoot- Short haired dark gray tom with golden eyes.

Dapplefur- Long haired brown she cat with light brown spots.

Raineyes- Short haired white tom.

Apprentice, Whitepaw

Shadepath- Long haired black tom with light blue eyes.

Apprentice, Stormpaw

Silverface- Short haired solid silver she-cat.

Birchtail- Longhaired tawny she-cat

Apprentice, Stonepaw

Leaftree- Short haired brown tom with russet legs and green eyes.

Sunheart- Light brown tabby tom.

Apprentice, Petalpaw

Flashfoot- Swift tabby she-cat.

Apprentices

Petalpaw- Small black she-cat with light blue eyes.

Stonepaw- Solid gray tom.

Stormpaw- Big solid white tom.

Whitepaw- Calico she-cat with white paws.

Longpaw- Dark brown tom with light blue eyes. Medicine cat apprentice.

Queens

Flowerfoot- Pretty gold she-cat, mother of Eaglekit and Foxkit. Mate of Shadepath.

Morningvoice- Long haired white she-cat, mother of Lionkit. Mate of Grayfoot.

Kits

Eaglekit- Extremely small golden she-kit with one small brown spot above each bright blue eye. Almost an apprentice.

Foxkit- Big russet tom, with brown paws. Almost an apprentice.

Lionkit- Big golden tom with three black stripes down his back, dark green eyes. Almost an apprentice.

Elders

Blackfoot- Kind white she-cat with black paws.

**Treeclan**

Leader- Treestar- Tall Dark brown tom, with light brown splotches.

Deputy- Ashclaw- Gray she-cat with yellow eyes.

Appretice, Featherpaw

Medicine Cat- Mintnose- Small white tom with block spots on his legs.

Warriors

Riverfoot- Solid black tom.

Dusktalon- Golden she-cat.

Appretice, Flamepaw

Sparrowfeather- Russet colored Tabby she-cat.

Fawneyes- Small brown she cat with big brown eyes.

Cloudface- Big solid white tom.

Sandfur- Light ginger colored tom.

Apprentice, Mousepaw

Grassear- Black tom with white spots.

Blackstripe- Handsome ginger tom with black stripes.

Darkfoot- Solid gray tom.

Apprentices

Featherpaw- Pretty silver she-cat with black stripes

Mousepaw- Pretty tortoiseshell she cat with a lovely dapple coat.

Flamepaw- Handsome ginger tom.

Queens

Thunderclaw- Small tabby she cat, mother of Rabbitkit and Bluekit. Mate of Riverfoot.

Goldenstep- Golden she-cat, expecting kits. Mate of Sandfur.

Vinetail- Pretty Brown she-cat with a dapple coat, Mother of Badgerkit. Mate of Treestar.

Kits

Rabbitkit- Small solid brown she-kit

Bluekit- Big light gray tom.

Badgerkit- Small tabby she-kit.

**Echoclan**

Leader- Jaguarstar- Big black tom with dark brown spots.

Deputy- Oakfur- Dark brown tom.

Medicine Cat- Darkflower- Solid black she-cat with light gold eyes.

Apprentice, Heavypaw

Warriors

Nightstep- Dark brown tabby.

Apprentice, Snowpaw

Littleclaw- Small white tom.

Apprentice, Hailpaw

Dreameyes- Pretty silver she-cat.

Squirrelfoot- Russet colored tom.

Apprentice, Moonpaw

Silverwing- Beautiful silver she-cat with a dapple coat.

Apprentice, Coyotepaw

Apprentices

Snowpaw- Big white tom with black ears

Hailpaw- Handsome light gray tom with ice blue eyes.

Moonpaw- Pretty light brown she-cat with ginger paws.

Coyotepaw- Ginger tom with brown stripes

Queens

Ivyface- Beautiful brown dappled she cat with black paws, mother of Dapplekit. Mate of Oakfur.

Kits

Dapplekit- Pretty black she-kit with brown splotches.

Elders

Crowfur- Gray tom.

Blacknight- Solid black she-cat.

Mudtail- Dark brown tom.

A/N: This is just the begining of my story. The first chapter will be up within the next few days, and we'll se how everything starts off! This is my first story on , this is also my first story in the Warriors genre! Oh, if I used a name of one of your cats and didn't know it, sorry. I've only read one Warriors story, it's called Dusk, and I tried not to use any of the names in it. By the way you should really check it out, it's really good! Again, sorry if I used one of your names and the first chapter will be up within the next few days!


	2. Prophecy

Five and a Half Moons Ago…

Windbreath sighed as she washed her paws off in a puddle outside of her den. She had just delivered two kits to an ecstatic Flowerfoot. The birth had been difficult from the start, the first kit, a little russet tom, had been turned backwards so she had had to turn him around. He had fought to come out, and when he had he had wailed in a high-pitched keen, but she had never heard a more gratifying sound.

The second kit, a tiny golden she-kit with unusual spots above her eyes, was another story. She was so small that at first Windbreath couldn't even tell Flowerfoot was still in labor until she had started pushing again. It was a surprise when the little she-kit had come out so quickly, at first Windbreath had started to give the tiny kit to Flowerfoot to clean, but then she realized the kit wasn't breathing.

Windbreath remembered calling a twitching Shadepath, Flowerfoot's mate, into the birthing den. Now she could laugh freely about how anxious Shadepath had been. She told him that he needed to lick the kit to warm her up, while she rubbed the kits neck to get her to through up any birthing fluids. Luckily after a few rubs the kit had coughed up the liquid, and let out a pitiful mew. After that things had gone smoothly.

Windbreath stepped out of the puddle and lifted her head to gaze at the sky, where Starclan watched over her. She was glad Fireclan was growing stronger after an outbreak of whitecough. Three warriors and an elder had died and gone to join Starclan. Her leader, Applestar, had grieved in silence by their side as one by one they passed away.

Applestar had been great friends with Dawncloud and Mousestep, two of the warriors that had died. She had grown up with them and become a warrior with them, and now she grieved for them.

It was times like these, after all of the trouble was gone, that Windbreath was truly glad to be a Fireclan medicine cat. She was proud of her new apprentice, Longpaw, in helping with the birth. She had just become his mentor the day before, and she hadn't been able to teach him much in that short amount of time. Now she had a strict teaching plan laid out for him, no more slacking on her part!

She sighed as she looked down at her paws. She wondered what Starclan had in store for Fireclan. She hadn't received a message from them in moons, and she wondered why they were so distant. She shook her head and quickly swiped her paw over her face, now wasn't the time to think of that.

She stretched her legs and stood up carefully. Windbreath looked out at the wide berth of land that was Fireclan's home. Brambles and long vines with thorns shielded them from all sides, and from all points of attack. Tall trees cast shadows over the warrior's den, which was a small cave. Across from the warriors den was the nursery, which lay in a giant bush that was hollowed out, the entrance was covered with gorse and thick vines that made it almost impossible to get in unless you knew just the right place to enter. The elder's den was under a fallen tree covered in moss. She could see Blackfoot lying on her mossy bed in the center of the small clearing. Her den was right next to the warrior's cave, in another smaller adjoining cave. Her leaders den was placed in a high cave above them all, if one wanted to go up to Applestar's den they had to climb up small stones placed one after another.

She glanced one last time around the clearing and then stepped into her den. She sighed when she saw the pile of herbs lying in front of a natural rock shelf, she must have forgotten to put them up when Flowerfoot started to give birth. She stepped over to the shelf and lightly picked up the herbs in her mouth, immediately a musky scent shot into her nose and she fought back a sneeze. Windbreath quickly placed the herbs in their correct locations. She gave one last cursory glance at the shelf, nodded in satisfaction, and moved tiredly over to her mossy bed.

With a sigh she lay down and instantly fell asleep.

_Windbreath slowly opened her eyes as the scent of many cats filled her nose. Her breath whooshed out of her in an alarmed gasp as she looked down to see that she was standing on a thin branch at the very top of a large tree. Her claws dug sharply into the hard bark, as she hissed in alarm._

_"Look." It was a single voice, yet it sounded like many cats all speaking at the same time. The voice of Starclan._

_Windbreath looked down again, but this time she looked past the tree branch and to the forest floor. On the forest floor two cats wrestled ferociously, claws unsheathed and teeth glinting, they slashed and bit at each other, each one trying to gain the upper hand. She could tell there were other cats around them, but they seemed like dim shadows compared to the bright glow surrounding the two fighting cats. _

_The smaller of the two cats jumped from side to side, belly low, trying to confuse the bigger cat. As the bigger cat slashed at the small cat with a blow that would surely kill it, a bright golden light erupted from the middle of the mass of cats. Windbreath crouched low on the tree branch as she tried to see what had happened to the smaller cat. _

_When the glow receded she saw that the ground looked like it had never been touched by dozens of paws, it looked like a huge fight had never taken place there at all. _

_Windbreath blinked in confusion. She lifted her head and inhaled the scents around her, a sweet scent drifted to her on the breeze. She looked up, trying to see where the scent was coming from, and her gaze was drawn reluctantly to the moon. She gasped when she saw that the moon shown with an eerie faint red light._

_Abruptly everything went black and she shivered as a cold wind blew through her fur. _

_" When the crescent moon burns red and a leader loses a life, fire will need an Eagle to take flight…" The monotone voice drifted like mist across the black expanse to her ears. Images flashed before her eyes: the scene of the two fighting cats, golden fur, a warrior naming ceremony, and a she-cat in labor. _

_" Be not afraid, all will be right in the end." A kind voice spoke softly into her ear, she jumped at how close the voice was. _

_Windbreath whipped around quickly, the jumped back with a shocked hiss when a light grew brighter from where the figure of a cat stood. The light moved toward her, and even though she tried to move she couldn't. She had to watch as the light slowly engulfed her._

Windbreath jolted awake. She lay gasping on her bed, as the dream from Starclan played over and over again in her head.

The forest had a new and confusing prophecy, and it sounded like it spelled doom for Fireclan.


	3. A New Idea

Present…

Eaglekit grunted as her mother nudged her awake. She had been having such a good dream too!

"Today is Lionkit's apprentice ceremony, you don't want to miss that do you?" Flowerfoot purred in amusement as, in a flash of golden fur, Eaglekit was up.

"I still don't think it's fair that he gets to be an apprentice before me! I'm a better fighter than he is!" Eaglekit pouted as her mother started to wash thoroughly behind her ears.

"Well, he is a month older than you, and the warrior code stares that a kit has to be six moons before they can become an apprentice." Flowerfoot stated in an amused voice. Flowerfoot still couldn't believe how fast the days had passed, and that in only a moon her two kits would be _apprentices_.

Flowerfoot paused in her washing when she heard a grunt from the bed of moss right next to her. Then quickly paced over to the bed when her second kit, Foxkit, placed one brown paw sedately after the other as he climbed out of his bed.

It still amazed her how different her two kits were. While Foxkit was calm and seemed to be very mature, Eaglekit was a ball of golden energy that never seemed to stop asking questions. At least they had two things in common: their determination and pride. Although Foxkit had a quiet dignity about him that just oozed his pride, Eaglekit wasn't afraid to tell anyone, and _everything_, just which clan she belonged to. It exasperated her sometimes.

"At least Lionkit knows when to _shut-up_." Foxkit grumbled as he passed his sister and sat down.

Before Eaglekit could retort, a resounding _mroww_ was heard from outside of the nursery.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey meet here before the Great Rock!" Applestar's voice rang loudly through the clearing.

Eaglekit ran out before Flowerfoot could stop her, and then Foxkit followed more sedately. Because they were only kits they couldn't go directly to the great rock and sit with the older cats, but they could sit outside of the nursery where they could see everything directly.

Applestar was standing on top of a huge rock that jutted out from the side of the stone wall. Right underneath her stood Lionkit, a big golden kit with three black stripes going from his shoulder blades all the way to the tip of his tail. Beside him was Leaftree, a shorthaired brown tom with dark russet legs and green eyes.

Applestar cleared her throat. "Lionkit has reached his sixth moon an is ready to become an apprentice. Leaftree, you have been a courageous warrior. I know you will pass these qualities on to your new apprentice. Lionkit, you will now be known as Lionpaw. Congratulations!"

Lionpaw quickly walked to Leaftree's side and touched his nose to the big tom's shoulder; Leaftree in return touched his nose to his new apprentices shoulder.

The clan erupted into yowling. "Lionpaw, Lionpaw, Lionpaw!"

"Lionpaw! Over here!" Eaglekit and Foxkit yelled.

Lionpaw's head snapped up as he looked around, he purred when he saw Foxkit and made his was slowly over to them.

"So, what do you think?" He asked directing his question to Foxkit.

Eaglekit sighed in dismay. She had liked Lionpaw for the longest time! Yet, he didn't even seem to notice her! It was horrible always being overlooked by him, but maybe when she was an apprentice too he would notice her. Maybe…but, until that day she just had to work harder to gain his attention! Her mother didn't call her determined for nothing!

By the time Eaglekit came out of her inner musings Lionpaw was gone and her brother was walking away. She hissed in annoyance, _Why do these things always happen to me, I have the rottenest luck!_ She trotted after her brother, never noticing the two pairs of eyes following her.

Windbreath watched as the small kit raced after her brother. She ran through a patch of sunlight and her fur glowed golden for just a second, reminding Windbreath of her dream.

"You think Eaglekit is the cat from Starclan's prophecy?" Applestar asked from the opening of her den. They watched as Eaglekit and her brother entered the nursery followed by Flowerfoot.

"I'm not sure…she's the only golden cat in Fireclan other than Lionpaw, but the cat in my dream didn't have stripes." Windbreath answered in a calm voice.

Applestar nodded, "Then we must keep an eye on her." She sighed, "Although I worry that she will be too young when the time comes to live up to the prophecy." She watched as Shadepath entered the nursery, followed by Lightstep, her deputy.

Applestar was glad she had chosen Lightstep to become the deputy of Fireclan. Even though when her last deputy, Dreamcloud, had died of whitecough she had never wanted to rename a deputy. Lightstep had become a warrior just two moons before the death of Dreamcloud, and had gained his first apprentice just the day before her death. He was the youngest deputy Fireclan had ever seen, and his naming had caused uproar among the clan, but he had pulled the clan together and always had the clan's best interests at mind. It helped that he was one of the best fighters Fireclan had ever seen.

Applestar looked at Windbreath quickly when an idea started to take shape in her mind.

Windbreath looked up at from her paws as Applestar started to speak. "But, if we were to give her a mentor who was strong mentally and physically, and could pass down all of their knowledge to her, then she might just be able to live up to Starclan's prophecy."

Windbreath tilted her head in confusion. "Where are you going with this, Applestar?"

Applestar's eyes gleamed. "When she becomes an apprentice she needs a strong mentor, someone she can learn from. Someone like Lightstep."

Windbreath stood up slowly, and calmly walked to the opening in the cave to look down at the nursery. "I won't deny that Lightstep is an amazing warrior, but is he the right cat to mentor Eaglekit? Will he encourage her when she does something wrong or right, and discourage her when she becomes inattentive? Is he truly the right cat, Applestar?" She meowed.

Applestar glanced at Windbreath then turned to look down. "I think he is, Windbreah. I truly do."

Lightstep stepped into the nursery just in time to hear Shadepath's question.

"How are the kits doing, Flowerfoot?" He meowed pleasantly.

Flowerfoot looked at the corner of the nursery in time to see Eaglekit bowl over her brother. She sighed. "As good as they can be, I guess." She gave her mate a quick lick, and then turned to Lightstep. "How are you doing? It seems like I haven't seen you in moons." She purred.

Lightstep looked away from the kits. "I'm doing well, I actually came to see how the kits were doing."

Shadepath chuckled to Flowerfoot, "Ever since Flashfoot became a warrior, he's been hoping to get another apprentice, and it just so happens that our kits will become apprentices in half a moon."

Lightstep shuffled his paws and looked at the kits again. Both kits looked healthy; even though Eaglekit was tiny she was defiantly healthy. Lightstep couldn't help but hope that he would get one of the two kits. Foxkit would be the perfect apprentice: attentive, determined, and willing to do anything for the clan. And while Eaglekit was all of those things he still thought she would be a handful.

Eaglekit glanced up from where she was playfully hitting Foxkit in the head. She had heard what her parents and Lightstep were talking about.

Dropping her paw she bounded over to Lightstep. A little bit out of breath she stopped beside him and looked at her mother as they continued to talk.

"It's true that I'm hoping to mentor one of your kits, but all of the warriors would make excellent mentors." Lightstep replied to Shadepath.

Flowerfoot _mrowwed_ with laughter, "You don't have to defend yourself to us. I'm sure Applestar will pick you to be one of my kits mentor." She gave him a playful nudge in the shoulder.

Lightstep's head whipped around when Eaglekit gave a high-pitched squeal. "You're really going to be one of our mentors?" Eaglekit looked dreamily up to him, "I can't believe it, _the _Lightstep, my mentor? Well, that's just assuming that Applestar chooses me to be you apprentice, but, WOW!"

Eaglekit smiled prettily up at him. "I can't wait!"

Lightstep looked at Shadepath awkwardly, "Me neither…"

Flowerfoot took pity on him. "Okay you rambunctious kits, time for bed!" She picked Eaglekit up, who just sighed, obviously used to it.

Foxkit trotted over to his mossy nest, and laid down. Eaglekit squirmed a bit then finally gave in and stopped struggling as her mom set her next to her brother.

"No offense mom," She meowed, but I can't wait to go to the apprentice's den."

Shadepath laughed, "I bet you'll say that when you're an apprentice too."

Flowerfoot sighed. "The things I put up with."

Eaglekit just looked at Lightstep for a second, a pretty sparkle in her eyes. "Night."

A/N: Okay So that's it for chapter 2!!! YAY! Hmmm, I wonder what Eaglekit is thinking?? I guess you'll find out in the next chapter. In the next Chapter will be they apprentice ceremony for Eaglekit and Foxkit! Review and tell me what you think so far!!


	4. Discoveries

Sunheart dashed quickly over rugged terrain. Dawn Fall was fast approaching and he had to collect the rest of his evening's catch, hopefully before the night predators woke from their sleep. Stepping lightly over a fallen log the sleek light brown tabby hesitated for a second. His ears pricked back and he listened intently to the silence behind him.

The forest was eerily quiet.

He took an uneasy step back. It was unnatural for the forest to be this quiet. Usually it was teeming with life, birds chirping, squirrels chattering, and mice squeaking, but now every creature seemed to be hiding, waiting in anticipation. It made him nervous.

He padded slowly over to his small pile of fresh kill that he had buried earlier in the day, nothing was missing and he was glad. His clan needed all the fresh kill they could get with Leaf Bare almost there. Nearby a bush rustled, probably a mouse, but he still tensed and waited.

Suddenly the earth under his paws rumbled, and a horrible roaring sound erupted over head. A huge shining bird flew over head, one wing on fire the other wing completely torn off. His fur bristled in horror when the bird started to drop out of the sky, finally dropping into the canyon, the only place not in any clans' territory.

Sunheart was frozen in horror. Even though the earth had stopped shaking his paws still tingled, so it couldn't have been a dream, or nightmare. He leaped to attention when noise erupted all around him. All the missing sounds from earlier were finally being heard. Sunheart leaped over to his fresh kill pile and gathered it all in his mouth.

He had to tell Applestar.

Eaglekit purred as she walked into the clearing, Foxkit by her side. Today was the day she became an apprentice and found out who her mentor would be! She was so excited she could hardly breathe around the _purr _tingling in her throat.

A loud _mroww_ resounded throughout the clearing. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey meet here, before the Great Rock!"

Applestar stood on top of the huge jutting rock in the middle of the clearing, waiting for the cats of her clan to come before her. Eaglekit and Foxkit slowly walked under the Great Rock, looking from Applestar to the cats slowly surrounding them.

"Fireclan now has two kits ready to become apprentices. Foxkit has reached his sixth moon and is ready to become an apprentice. Dapplefur," A pretty brown she-cat padded up to the Great Rock, "you have been a calm and watchful warrior. I know you will pass on these qualities onto your new apprentice. Foxkit, you will now be known as Foxpaw. Study well under your new mentor."

Foxpaw slowly walked to Dapplefur and touched his nose to her speckled shoulder, she in return touched his russet shoulder.

The clan lifted their voices yelling, "Foxpaw, Foxpaw, Foxpaw!"

Eaglekit couldn't help but shake in anticipation. _She was next!_

"Eaglekit has also reached her sixth moon and is ready to become an apprentice."

Eaglekit held her breath as Applestar paused.

"Lightstep," Eaglekit's face lit up. "You have been a brave and truthful warrior. I know that you will pass these qualities onto your new apprentice. Eaglekit, you will now be known as Eaglepaw. Learn well under your new mentor." Applestar smiled down at her.

Eaglepaw skipped quickly over to Lightstep, slowing to a halt as she pressed her nose into his dense fur, inhaling the scent of pine needles and grass. Lightstep leaned over her head to place his nose onto her golden shoulder, signaling his acceptance of her.

The clan erupted into yowling around her. "Eaglepaw, Eaglepaw, Eaglepaw!"

The newly named Eaglepaw smiled into Lightstep's face, purring while her father came to congratulate them.

"So, my little kit has finally grown up?" Shadepath purred into Eaglepaw's ear. He leaned over her head to look into Lightstep's face. "Take care of her, Lightstep," he said seriously, and then a hint of amusement entered his eyes. "She's our baby."

Eaglepaw squealed in fake outrage. "Dad, I'm not a baby any more. Go bother Foxpaw!" She stomped her little paw and glared light heartedly into Shadepath's eyes.

"Fine, fine, I know when I'm not wanted." He licked her on the ear, then turned in the direction of Foxpaw and Flowerfoot.

Lightstep watched him leave with a little bit of hesitation. Now he was alone with his new apprentice, who was looking up at him with adoring eyes.

Lightstep sighed, turned his back on her, and spoke over his shoulder. "I think we should begin today with a tour of the boundaries."

Eaglepaw yipped and ran to his side. "Are we going into Badger Creek?"

He _mrowwed_ with laughter. " I think that might be too much right now, you know why it's called Badger Creek, right?"

"Because of badgers?" Eaglepaw answered playfully.

"Well, yes, but also because of our ancestor's battle with the badger family that lived there, and still does today." He said. "The Fireclan leader, Ashstar, discovered that the badger family living there was preying on cats of the three clans. He led the Fireclan warriors into a bloody battle, many were killed, and Ashstar lost two lives. In the end, Fireclan ended the threat of the badger family, but not without loss." Lightstep padded with Eaglepaw by his side to the exit of the tunnel leading out into the woods.

Eaglepaw sighed. "I guess that means no."

Lightstep looked at her amusedly. "Only for now."

Eaglepaw looked into his green eyes, flicked her golden tail in front of his nose, and stood in front of him. "So, where are we going first?"

Lightstep nudged her shoulder to turn her to the right. "The Echoclan border, you need to be careful not to cross it, though, Jaguarstar, and his deputy Oakfur take the border very seriously, as do the rest of Echoclan."

Eaglepaw nodded her head and skipped lightly by his side, as he walked in the direction of the border.

The Echoclan border was in the middle of a valley, protected on all sides by the rock walls that surrounded them. The ground was always damp from where rain water ran off the valley walls and collected in pools found in the Echoclan territory. The land was rich and fertile, but not seen often because of the dense fog that enshrouded the territory. A river that ran through all three territories could constantly be heard above the loud singing of birds not seen. Echoclan was full of hunters, it had to be. Because of the fog, scent was always weak, and prey was hard to find, but that also meant Echoclan was protected from rouges and other clans. Their warriors relied on stealth and cunning, not strength, to win battles.

Lightstep paused when he heard the rapid pounding of paws hitting damp earth. He flicked his ears backwards in a gesture for Eaglepaw to be silent and stay behind him.

The bushes in front of them shook as a light brown cat stepped out of them, breathing hard, with a mouse and vole clenched in his jaws. He recognized this cat.

"Sunheart? What are you doing here, you're on hunting duty." Lightstep asked, calming down once he knew there was no threat to himself or Eaglepaw.

Sunheart shook slightly as he sat down on the muddy ground. "I need to talk to Applestar, there was a bird, a giant silver bird, and it was on fire. I think it crashed into the canyon!" He panted, once he sat down his prey.

Lightstep knew it was going to be a long day.


	5. A New Mission

Eaglepaw sat in front of the apprentice's den, which lay slightly in front of the nursery in an old, sandy, dried up creek bed, and watched as Lightstep jumped from stone step to stone step to reach Applestar's den. She could see Sunheart nervously placing his front two paws onto the first step, as he glanced up towards his leader's den.

_ I wonder what his problem is._ She thought, _I mean, he can't just come running up, interrupting my training with Lightstep, yelling about some stupid bird on fire! Ugh._

She stood up slowly and walked back into the apprentices den, after seeing that Lightstep had entered the den.

"Where have you been?" Foxkit, her brother, asked.

"I was with Lightstep near the Echoclan border; he was showing me all of our boundaries!" Eaglepaw practically skipped over to Foxpaw, who was sitting next to Stormpaw.

She stopped, and sat down next to them. "But, then Sunheart came running up, yelling about some giant silver bird that was on fire. I really don't have a clue what he was talking about exactly…" Eaglepaw sighed, "But, it kind of sucks that he interrupted my training, it was really fun."

"Better luck next time, I guess." Stormpaw replied.

Foxpaw nudged his sister, "When you find out what it was about, tell me. It seems interesting."

"We'll see…" She purred.

* * *

Lightstep stared at Sunheart as the brown tom finished telling Applestar what he had seen. He glanced at Applestar to see that she was deep in thought; he turned his white head back towards Sunheart.

"You're sure this is what you saw?" Applestar questioned.

"Y-yes, Applestar, I'm positive. It was a giant silver bird, and it was on fire, it landed in the canyon near the far side of the Treeclan border. The ground shook when it flew over me, and my paws are still tingling. It was huge; I've never seen a bird that big. But…but, it smelled different…" Sunheart shook his head.

"Different? Different how?" Lightstep asked.

"Well, it smelled stale. Almost like the monsters that the Two-legs have in Leaf Bare when the leaves are falling." Sunheart closed his eyes in concentration. "It smelled exactly the same, but it was flying and had wings."

"If what you say is true, not that I doubt you, then I'm sending a patrol to see where it landed and if there are any damages to the boundary." She stood up and looked out of the opening of her den. "Lightstep, I want you to choose four cats to go to the canyon, but first send Flashfoot to Treeclan territory and ask them for permission to travel along their border to the canyon. Don't send the patrol until she gets back."

Lightstep nodded. "Right, do you think any of the apprentices are ready for a patrol like this?"

Applestar tilted her head in thought, "Not Foxpaw, Lionpaw, or Eaglepaw, but the others will be fine, although I think only one should go. Send Stonepaw, and Birchtail, tell her to test him while their patrolling, it's almost time for him to become a warrior. The other two, I'll leave up to you." She nudged his shoulder, "Go tell them."

Lightstep disappeared out of the entrance.

"Thank you Sunheart, for coming to me right away. Why don't you take Petalpaw to the training den, and practice her fighting?" Applestar purred.

Sunheart nodded his head, and flicked his tail as he turned to leave, "One more thing Applestar." He kneaded his front paws into the dirt floor. "I smelt something else when it flew over me."

"What did you smell?"

"I smelt blood. Two-leg blood."

* * *

Lightstep padded towards the Warriors den, greeting different cats as he walked. He walked into the Warriors den, blinking when his eyes adjusted slowly to the light change. "Flashfoot, are you in here?"

"Oh, hey Lightstep, what's wrong?" Flashfoot, a pretty tabby she-cat with black dappled spots on her back, asked.

"Nothing's wrong, but I do have a mission for you." He laughed when his old apprentice jumped to her feet and pranced over to him.

"Well," she purred, "what's the mission?"

"I need you to go to Treeclan and ask Treestar if it's okay to send a small group of cats along their border to the canyon. We think that something crashed there; tell him he's welcome to send his own group of cats with ours if he wants to. It's just a search mission, completely peaceful." Lightstep replied.

Flashfoot stretched out her front and back legs, warming up her muscles. "Gotcha, hey, after this I have to talk to you about something, okay?"

Lightstep tilted his head curiously. "Why don't you just tell me now?"

Flashfoot purred with laughter, "You absolutely embody that saying, what was it again? Oh, 'Curiosity killed the cat.'"

Lightstep paused for a second, "But, satisfaction brought it back."

She sighed. "You're so stubborn. Fine, I'm going to be moving into the nursery soon, I'm with kits." Flashfoot sighed with bliss.

"Whose are they?" He asked curiously.

"Sunheart's. He doesn't know yet though, so don't tell him." Flashfoot replied.

"Okay, I won't, but you need to hurry up and go to Treeclan, so that we can get you settled into your new den." He purred.

Flashfoot hopped up from her stretch and started padding towards the clan entrance. "Whatever you say, boss."

* * *

Lightstep stopped in front of the Apprentices den. "Stonepaw! Come here!" He called to the young grey tom. Stonepaw padded over to Lightstep, and sat down in front of him.

"What is it, Lightstep?" He asked nervously to the senior warrior.

Lightstep purred, "Don't worry you're not in trouble, quite the opposite in fact. Tell Birchtail that you're both going on a patrol with Grayfoot and Dapplefur to the canyon. Go and gather everyone and meet me outside of the camp." He nudged Stonepaw's shoulder. "Go on."

Stonepaw bounced up from the ground, "Ok!"

Lightstep turned around and almost jumped when instead of seeing the entrance to the Apprentices den he instead saw Eaglepaw's blue eyes. "Whatcha doin'?"

"Eaglepaw, don't sneak up on me!" He hissed.

"Well, you should have been paying attention! At least I'm working on my stealth! If you're such a _mighty_ warrior you should have heard me way before I could have snuck up on you, so there!" She growled back.

Lightstep measured his apprentice thoughtfully, "You're right, but I haven't taught you how to walk quietly yet." He flicked his tail at her face. "So, where'd you learn it from?"

Eaglepaw beamed up at him, "I've been watching you for a while now! Ever since you said you might be my mentor, I've been studying how you walk. You put most of your weight on your toes and back legs right? That's the trick, right?" She laughed a little bit. "It helps that my dad is kind of over protective, so he taught me a lot of this when I was a kit…that's okay, right?"

Lightstep looked at Eaglepaw in a little bit of amazement. _She practically perfected her stealth walk just by watching me?_ He thought. "It's okay; just make sure you put a little bit more weight on your toes." He purred. He flicked his tail at her.

Eaglepaw purred a little bit, "Soooooo, what was Sunheart talking about?" She rolled her eyes, "You know, the giant silver bird…oh, wait it was on fire too, right?" She giggled.

"Eaglepaw…I'm not sure if I should tell you about this, we're not even sure if it's something to worry about yet, I don't want to cause any alarm, you have to trust me with this." Lightstep said uneasily, he didn't like not being able to tell her things, but it was too much of a risk, she might tell someone, then it would spread through the camp like wildfire. He couldn't let that happen.

Eaglepaw glanced at him, then looked up at the sky and sighed. "I understand, but you know that trust goes both ways in any relationship, right? Especially the relationship between and apprentice and their mentor, don't forget that." She nudged his shoulder, glanced at him one more time, and then padded back towards the apprentices den.

Lightstep sighed, and called out, "Go to the training hollow, I'll meet you there once I'm done talking with Grayfoot."

Eaglepaw paused and looked over her golden shoulder, "Okay."

Lightstep walked to the camp entrance, he stepped through the tunnel covered in thorns carefully, then padded towards the group of cats waiting for him.

"What's going on Lightstep?" Grayfoot asked calmly.

"I'm sending you on a mission to the canyon, Treeclan may or may not send some of their cats with you, your objective is to search the canyon for a giant silver bird made of the same material the Twoleg's monsters are made out of. This mission is search only, gather as much information as possible, and then report back to myself and Applestar. It fell somewhere near the gorge. Grayfoot, I'm putting you in charge of this. Now, any questions?" He asked.

"Just one Lightstep," Dapplefur said. "What if we find anything hostile? Do you want us to engage or retreat?"

"Remember this mission is purely peaceful. If there is anything that threatens you I  
want you to come back here and tell us about it, but the clan must be protected, so don't lead anything here." Lightstep replied. "Now, wait here until Flashfoot comes back, then go to the canyon. Travel swift and safe." Lightstep smiled at them then turned around and entered back into the camp.

* * *

Deep in the canyon, underneath the wreckage of a crashed airplane, a giant steel cage groaned underneath the weight of the plane.

A small little bluebird hopped forward, its head turning from side to side, curiously moving closer and closer to the burning wreckage, and consequently the steel cage, whose door was ripped off at the top two hinges and hanging limply towards the ground.

The bird _tweeted_ nervously, when all sounds stopped, other than the ominous squeaking of the downed plane. All of a sudden the bird flew up frantically, warned by some unknown noise, as a huge black shape landed where the bird had once stood.

The shape lifted its head, and inhaled in three small gulps, all the smells surrounding it. Slowly its lips lifted to show sharp, white teeth in a snarl.

_ Food._


End file.
